NY Times: Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt

First it was the Washington Post on Libya this week and now the New York Times on Egypt who are no longer falling for the spin of Obama and his advisers or the SoS Clinton and her mouthpieces. However bad we perceive all of the problems to be in Libya and Egypt along with other parts of the Middle East, it has to be a lot worse to get these two newspapers to take on Obama and his agenda.

Former President Carter lost Iran but Obama seems set on a course to lose most of the countries in the Middle East to Islamic fundamentalists. Is this what Obama wanted all along? If it is not, he sure took the wrong path. The Obama Administration set out almost immediately after taking office to try and convince Americans that we had nothing to fear from the Muslim Brotherhood but even the New York Times tells a different story in Egypt including calling them an Islamist Group.

It is now time for the entire media to stop the cover-up for the Obama agenda and report the facts not spin. This new press secretary Carney is nothing but a spinner for Obama who doesn't hesitate to misstate the facts if it benefits Obama. If anyone gets the truth out of him on something that is very important it would be a shock.

This is actually a frightening article about what is happening in Egypt including the fact that the military who opposed the Muslim Brotherhood now seem to have thrown in with them. The dominoes are beginning to fall and the Muslim Brotherhood is stepping into the vacuums that are being created. How many more countries are going to fall when idealistic young people start the movement and then when it takes hold find themselves on the outside looking in at the Muslim Brotherhood in charge? The Brotherhood will make their life even more controlled as we have seen over the years in Iran. Bet it is a safe bet that they are going to look back on Mubarak someday and wish he or someone like him was back in charge.

Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Published: March 24, 2011

CAIRO — In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group once banned by the state, is at the forefront, transformed into a tacit partner with the military government that many fear will thwart fundamental changes.

It is also clear that the young, educated secular activists who initially propelled the nonideological revolution are no longer the driving political force — at least not at the moment.


As the best organized and most extensive opposition movement in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood was expected to have an edge in the contest for influence. But what surprises many is its link to a military that vilified it.

“There is evidence the Brotherhood struck some kind of a deal with the military early on,” said Elijah Zarwan, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. “It makes sense if you are the military — you want stability and people off the street. The Brotherhood is one address where you can go to get 100,000 people off the street.”

There is a battle consuming Egypt about the direction of its revolution, and the military council that is now running the country is sending contradictory signals. On Wednesday, the council endorsed a plan to outlaw demonstrations and sit-ins. Then, a few hours later, the public prosecutor announced that the former interior minister and other security officials would be charged in the killings of hundreds during the protests.

Egyptians are searching for signs of clarity in such declarations, hoping to discern the direction of a state led by a secretive military council brought to power by a revolution based on demands for democracy, rule of law and an end to corruption.

“We are all worried,” said Amr Koura, 55, a television producer, reflecting the opinions of the secular minority. “The young people have no control of the revolution anymore. It was evident in the last few weeks when you saw a lot of bearded people taking charge. The youth are gone.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is also regarded warily by some religious Egyptians, who see it as an elitist, secret society. These suspicions have created potential opportunities for other parties.

About six groups from the ultraconservative Salafist school of Islam have also emerged in the era after President Hosni Mubarak’s removal, as well as a party called Al Wassat, intended as a more liberal alternative to the Brotherhood.

In the early stages of the revolution, the Brotherhood was reluctant to join the call for demonstrations. It jumped in only after it was clear that the protest movement had gained traction. Throughout, the Brotherhood kept a low profile, part of a survival instinct honed during decades of repression by the state.

The question at the time was whether the Brotherhood would move to take charge with its superior organizational structure. It now appears that it has.


“The Brotherhood didn’t want this revolution; it has never been a revolutionary movement,” said Mr. Zarwan of the International Crisis Group. “Now it has happened; they participated cautiously, and they realize they can set their sights higher.”

But in these early stages, there is growing evidence of the Brotherhood’s rise and the overpowering force of Islam.

Excerpt:  Read More at the New York Times